House of Yi

The House of Yi, also called the Korean Imperial Household, was the household of the Joseon Dynasty and Korean Empire, consisting of the descendants of the Yi Seong-gye, the founder of the Joseon Dynasty. Yi Seong-gye is known as Taejo: The Great Ancestor. All his descendants are members of the Jeonju Yi clan, including the imperial family of the Korean Empire (1897–1910).

After the annexation of the Korean Peninsula by Empire of Japan in 1910, some members of the Yi clan were mediatized into the Korean royal family and the Korean peerage by the Japanese government until 1947, just before the Japanese Constitution was promulgated. Since then, their status as royalty has not been acknowledged by any country; however, they continue to attract occasional media attention in South Korea. This happened most recently with the July 2005 funeral of Prince Gu, former head of the royal household.

At present, Prince Chung is the de jure genealogical heir to the heads of the imperial family, when male primogeniture is applied. However, he has not taken an active position on the debate over the leadership of the imperial family between his two relatives, Hereditary Prince Imperial Won (a first cousin and the son of the 9th son of Prince Ui) and Princess Haewon (his aunt and second eldest daughter of Prince Ui).